Patent Issued for Systems and methods for remote deposit of checks (USPTO 11562332): United Services Automobile Association

2023 FEB 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Gavia, Gabriel Glenn (San Antonio, TX, US), Harpel, Greg Alan (San Antonio, TX, US), Major, Frank Kyle (San Antonio, TX, US), Medina, III, Reynaldo (San Antonio, TX, US), Morlen, Randy Ray (San Antonio, TX, US), Morris, Michael Frank (San Antonio, TX, US), Oakes, III, Charles Lee (San Antonio, TX, US), Pollack, Jeffrey Neal (San Antonio, TX, US), Prasad, Bharat (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on September 19, 2017, was published online on January 24, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11562332 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/321,025, checks typically provide a safe and convenient method for an individual to purchase goods and/or services. To use a check, the individual usually must open a checking account, or other similar account, at a financial institution and deposit funds, which are then available for later withdrawal. To pay for goods and/or services with a check, the payor (i.e., the buyer) usually designates a payee (i.e., the seller) and an amount payable on the check. In addition, the payor often signs the check. Once the check has been signed, it is usually deemed negotiable, meaning the check may be validly transferred to the payee upon delivery. By signing and transferring the check to the payee, the payor authorizes funds to be withdrawn from the payor’s account on behalf of the payee in return for the goods and/or services provided by the payee.

“Checks have certain advantages over other forms of payment, such as cash. For example, while often considered the most liquid type of asset, cash also may be the least secure. Unlike a check, cash is usually freely transferable and does not have to be endorsed. Thus, the owner and possessor of cash is most often the same individual. Because cash is freely transferable, cash that is lost or stolen typically cannot be recovered. Therefore, the risks associated with cash transactions are often unacceptable, particularly with respect to transactions not conducted in person (e.g., by mail) and/or involving large sums of money. A check, on the other hand, provides a payor with more security because the check usually requires a payor to specify both the person and amount to be paid. Furthermore, as noted above, the check is usually not valid until it is properly signed by the payor. These safeguards help to reduce the risk that money will be lost and/or stolen and ensure that the proper payee receives the proper amount of money.

“Cash may have other disadvantages as well. For example, because cash is freely transferable, there may be little or no verifiable transaction history. It is often desirable for a payor and/or payee to have physical proof that a particular transaction took place. This typically requires that the payor receive a receipt. However, receipts may contain errors and can be easily misplaced. In contrast, a bank processing a check will ordinarily create a transaction history, which may include the identity of the payee, the amount to be paid, the date of the payment, and the signature of the payor. This enables both a payor and payee to independently verify the accuracy of most transactions involving a payment by check.

“While a check may provide a payor with a convenient and secure form of payment, receiving a check may put certain burdens on the payee, such as the time and effort required to deposit the check. For example, depositing a check typically involves going to a local bank branch and physically presenting the check to a bank teller. In addition to the time commitment that may be required, visiting a bank branch may be problematic for the payee if the bank’s hours of operation coincide with the payee’s normal hours of employment. Thus, the payee may be required to leave work early and/or change work schedules.

“A check may pose other burdens for the payee. As noted above, a check may not be freely transferable, thereby limiting the payee’s ability to use funds from the check. For example, it is usually difficult to for the payee to purchase goods and/or services using a check issued by the payor. While the check may be endorsed and accepted by a third party, such transactions are often disfavored because the third party may not know the payor and, thus, may not be willing to accept the risk that the payor has insufficient funds to cover the check. Therefore, the payee may not have access to the funds from the check until the payee deposits the check at the bank, the check has cleared and the funds have been credited to the payee’s account. The payee may have to wait even longer if the payee chooses to deposit the check by mail. Therefore, there is a need for a convenient method of remotely depositing a check while enabling the payee to quickly access the funds from the check.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The described embodiments contemplate a system, method and computer-readable medium with computer-executable instructions for remotely redeeming a negotiable instrument. In an embodiment, a novel system may include financial institution electronics, such as a server equipped with appropriate hardware and software for facilitating deposit of a check. Such electronics may be configured for receiving from a customer computer an identification of an account for deposit of a check, and an amount of said check. They may be further configured for receiving an image of a front side of said check, and for analyzing said image to determine if it meets at least one criterion. The criterion could be, for example, image size, image legibility, image orientation, image format, presence of certain image features that indicate the image in fact represents a check, and so forth. Financial institution electronics may be also configured for determining if there is an error in a deposit transaction. Numerous errors are possible candidates for detection, and several exemplary errors are provided herein. If there are no errors that warrant aborting the transaction, then such electronics may be further configured to initiate a deposit of the check.

“In another embodiment, a novel system may include, for example, a computer readable medium bearing instructions that can configure a customer’s general purpose computer to facilitate a check deposit. Acting under direction of such instructions, the general purpose computer may instruct a customer, for example via a display coupled such computer, in utilizing an image capture device to generate an electronic image of a front side of a check, such that said electronic image of a front side of a check meets at least one first criterion such as image size, image legibility, image orientation, image quality, and location and/or orientation of the check within the image. Instructions may further be provided for receiving the image of a front side of a check from said image capture device, and optionally instructing the customer to process the image, e.g., by approving the image and/or modifying it to meet at least one second criterion. A second criterion might also be, for example, one or more of image size, image legibility, image orientation, image quality, and location and/or orientation of the check within the image. Finally, the customer computer, acting under direction of the instructions, may deliver an approved electronic image to financial institution electronics.

“Additional advantages and features of the invention are described below.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method of remotely depositing a check, the method comprising: displaying, by a user-interface of a customer device, a prompt, wherein the prompt provides user instruction regarding initiating a check deposit; capturing, by a camera of the customer device in coordination with a downloaded application stored on the customer device, an electronic image of a check, wherein the downloaded application comprises computer-executable code that, when executed by a processor of the customer device, provides the user-interface, wherein the electronic image of the check is displayed on a display of the customer device; transmitting an electronic indication of a value associated with the check to a computer system by via operation of the user-interface and communication circuitry of the customer device; transmitting an electronic identification of an account for receipt of the value to the computer system by operation of the user-interface and the communication circuitry of the customer device; analyzing, by the processor of the customer device, an image characteristic of the captured electronic image of the check; confirming, by the processor of the customer device, whether an image criterion is met based on the analyzing of the image characteristic of the captured electronic image of the check, wherein the image criterion includes a document size dimension criterion applied to the captured electronic image of the check; the processor of the customer device, in response to determining that the image criterion is not met, automatically assisting a user of the customer device with meeting the image criterion via the user-interface on the display of the customer device by: displaying a user instruction regarding modifying the captured electronic image of the check on the display indicating that the user is to select a portion of the check in the electronic image of the check; receiving a selection of the portion of the check in the electronic image from the user via the user-interface; and using the portion of the received selection to modify the captured electronic image of the check to satisfy the document size dimension criterion by at least cropping the captured electronic image of the check; and transmitting, by the customer device, the modified captured electronic image of the check to the computer system via the user-interface and the communication circuitry of the customer device.

“2. The method of claim 1, comprising initiating capture of a first image of a front of the check and initiating capture of a second image of a back of the check.

“3. The method of claim 2, comprising transmitting the first image and the second image to the computer system by the user-interface and the communication circuitry.

“4. The method of claim 1, comprising confirming the image criterion is met before transmitting the captured electronic image of the check, data indicative of the value, data indicative of the account, or a combination thereof.

“5. The method of claim 1, comprising providing instructions to a user regarding capture of the electronic image of the check, transmit the electronic identification of the account, transmitting the electronic indication of the value, transmitting the captured electronic image of the check, or a combination thereof.

“6. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic indication of the value is within the captured electronic image of the check; and wherein transmitting the electronic indication of the value occurs when the captured electronic image of the check is transmitted.

“7. The method of claim 1, comprising performing optical character recognition with the computer system or the user-interface to determine the electronic indication of the value from the captured electronic image of the check.

“8. A user-owned device configured to facilitate remote depositing of a check, the user-owned device comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory; at least one camera; a display; communication circuitry; and a downloaded application stored on the at least one memory, the downloaded application comprising processor-executable instructions to: provide a user-interface operable to present user instruction regarding procedure for commencing a remote check deposit and operable to receive input from a user; capture an electronic image of the check by control of the camera, wherein the electronic image of the check is displayed on the display of the user-owned device; determine, by optical character recognition from the captured electronic image of the check, an amount of the check; receive as input, by the user-interface, an account for receipt of the amount of the check; analyze an image characteristic of the captured electronic image of the check; confirm whether at least one an image criterion is met based on the analyzing of the image characteristic of the captured electronic image of the check, wherein the at least one image criterion includes a document size dimension criterion applied to the captured electronic image of the check; in response to the at least one processor determining that the at least one image criterion is not met, automatically assist the user of the user-owned device with meeting the at least one image criterion by controlling the user-owned device to: display a user instruction on the display indicating that the user is to select a portion of the check in the electronic image of the check; receive a selection of the portion of the check in the electronic image from the user via the display; and use the portion of the received selection to modify the captured electronic image of the check to satisfy the document size dimension criterion by at least cropping the captured electronic image of the check; and transmit the modified captured electronic image of the check, data indicative of the amount, data indicative of the account, or a combination thereof, to a separate computer system by the communication circuitry and Internet-based communication.

“9. The user-owned device of claim 8, wherein the downloaded application comprises processor executable instructions that prompts the user to provide a first image of a front of the check and provide a second image of a back of the check.

“10. The user-owned device of claim 8, wherein the downloaded application comprises processor executable instructions that confirms the image criterion is met before proceeding to transmit the captured electronic image of the check, the data indicative of the amount, the data indicative of the account, or a combination thereof.

“11. The user-owned device of claim 10, wherein the image criterion comprises whether the captured electronic image of the check is legible, is appropriately sized, has an appropriate orientation, has an appropriate format, includes a validating image feature, or a combination thereof.

“12. The user-owned device of claim 8, wherein the downloaded application comprises processor executable instructions that provides the captured electronic image of the check in a bi-tonal image format.

“13. A non-transitory computer readable memory configured to store processor executable instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to: display a prompt by a user-interface of a customer device, wherein the prompt provides user instruction regarding initiating a check deposit; capture, by a camera of the customer device in coordination with a downloaded application stored on the customer device, an electronic image of a check, wherein the downloaded application comprises computer-executable code that, when executed by a processor of the customer device, provides the user-interface, wherein the electronic image of the check is displayed on a display of the customer device; transmit an electronic indication of a value associated with the check to a computer system via operation of the user-interface and communication circuitry of the customer device; transmit an electronic identification of an account for receipt of the value to the computer system via the user-interface and the communication circuitry of the customer device; analyze an image characteristic of the captured electronic image of the check; confirm whether an image criterion is met based on the analyzing of the image characteristic of the captured electronic image of the check, wherein the image criterion includes a document size dimension criterion applied to the captured electronic image of the check; in response to confirming that the document size criterion has not been met, assist a user of the customer device with meeting the image criterion by causing the customer device to: display a user instruction on the display indicating that the user is to select portion of the check in the electronic image of the check; receive a selection of the portion of the check in the electronic image from the user via the display; and use the received selection of the portion of the check to modify the captured electronic image of the check to satisfy the document size dimension criterion by at least cropping the captured electronic image of the check; and transmit the modified captured electronic image of the check to the computer system via the user-interface and the communication circuitry of the customer device.

“14. The non-transitory computer readable memory of claim 13, further comprising processor executable instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to: initiate capture of a first image of a front of the check and initiate capture of a second image of a back of the check.

“15. The non-transitory computer readable memory of claim 14, further comprising processor executable instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to: transmit the first image and the second image to the computer system via the user-interface and the communication circuitry.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For additional information on this patent, see: Gavia, Gabriel Glenn. Systems and methods for remote deposit of checks. U.S. Patent Number 11562332, filed September 19, 2017, and published online on January 24, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11562332)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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